(LIVE BLOG) ORTHODOX ENQUIRERS CLASS: THE ROLE OF TRADITION

On August 14 we posted a primer on the roots of Protestantism and Christian Zionism which was illustrated by two episodes from a series of seminars on the early Church and its history given by Father Ezra Ham of the Saint Elijah Orthodox Church in Oklahoma (link). Father Ezra has given the seminar "Finding the Church That Jesus Built" a number of times over the years to classes of new enquirers at his Eastern Orthodox Church. We shall be posting the latest rendition of the entire eight part seminar on this page in the coming weeks serving the same purpose. But also in order to re-freshen our own minds on the historical facts, that in the Western world continue to be covered up in favor of its particular version of reality. The curriculum for the seminar is available on Amazon (link). 

Aug. 23, 2025 St. Elijah OKC: I Want the Truth - Preparing for the Journey. 

A word on the concept of the nous, since there is much confusion and many misconceptions on what the adjective 'noetic' refers to. The Orthodox world has quite a different anthropological approach to human physical, mental and spiritual functions. 

Analogous to the five physical senses, the soul has five powers of its own: the nous, the imagination, discernment, the intellect and emotions. For a healthy state of our soul, these powers must be brought into harmony with each other. This is achieved by a virtuous life in which the passions are brought under self control.

Four powers of the soul are self explanatory, but the nous requires some clarification. The nous is a specific concept in Orthodox anthropology rooted in classical Greek philosophy, that is often translated as either 'mind' or 'thought'. Although related, it is not quite that. 

In contrast with a string of thoughts, the nous is the receptor of thought that 'hits' us out of the blue, akin to an intuition. These are small 'revelations', if you will. The location of the nous is in the heart. Its purpose is to experience direct knowledge of God.

~o~

Aug. 21, 2025

SESSION 1: GETTING OUT OF THE BOX

Aug. 19, 2025 St. Elijah OKC: I Want the Truth - Assumptions and Presuppositions.

I have of course a great appreciation for Father Ezra's efforts, but that does not mean our fundamental disagreement on the subject of the influence of Plato and Aristotle on the rift between East and West can be wiped under the carpet.

Father Ezra received part of his theological education in the Germanic enculturated area of Europe (I forgot where exactly, maybe Switzerland) and it is on that particular issue that it shows. The issue touches on the root cause of the difference between East and West.

It is no minor issue, but key in the understanding why the West took a wrong turn very early on in its history, a problem exacerbated since by the subsequent influence of Neo Platonism, Nominalism, Gnosticism, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment. 

Plato's dualism of Forms, imagining universals in some dimension 'out there' versus the material world 'down here' divides the universe against itself: heaven versus earth, macro cosmos versus micro cosmos, body versus soul, good versus evil, rich versus poor, black versus white, and so on and so on.

Philosophically this error was corrected by Aristotle, who saw Forms and universals not somewhere in a parallel world 'out there' but inherently in the thing itself, 'down here'. In doing so the material universe is infused with meaning it would have lost in the vision of Plato. 

Eastern Rome from its inception never fully accepted this partition of reality and did not suffer from the same influences that degraded Western culture to the point of full throttle nihilism. 

The way of viewing the world as a synthesis of the physical and the spiritual, the concrete and the abstract, heaven and earth, is precisely what we are looking for in the effort to combat the meaningless, flat, nihilistic world that is tearing the West to pieces. 

Western educated theologians like Father Ezra prefer Plato over Aristotle, because Plato's other worldly parallel world suggests a realm that can be construed as 'heaven' of some kind, whereas Aristotle's realism is confused with rationalism and scientism. The truth is actually the very opposite. 

In am diving into the matter at length in the e-book I am trying to put together, which I hope will be available for downloading sometime before the end of the year. 

- More on Christianity, synthesis, Plato, Aristotle, Father Ezra Ham -